Mecklenburg health director says COVID trend may soon warrant end to mask mandate

If COVID-19 infections continue to decline locally, Mecklenburg County Health Director Raynard Washington says he will recommend next week ending the local mask mandate.

Washington made the comment Tuesday during a county commissioners meeting. Over the last week, the 7-day average positivity rate locally has dropped from 27.6% to 20.8%, county health data show. In early January, that number was around 32%.

Last week, county commissioners said they would not remove the mask mandate without the recommendation of public health officials like Washington. The public has been particularly vocal on this issue, they said.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools follows local public health regulations but also has its own indoor mask mandate in place and it was not immediately clear Tuesday whether the district has plans to change its policy.

Mecklenburg County’s current mask mandate has been in place since August, when cases rose due to the delta variant. By November, with cases declining, the county seemed poised to end the mandate. But the influx of the omicron variant brought cases to their highest level yet, and nixed any prospect of ending it.

If county officials do end Mecklenburg’s mandate next week, they will join a growing number of Democratic leaders who have taken the same steps recently. Gov. Phil Murphy, of New Jersey, announced Monday that mask mandates for students and school employees would end in March.

The governors of both California and Oregon, both Democrats, have announced the end of their indoor mask mandates.

North Carolina eased its statewide mask mandate in May 2021 but strongly urged schools in the fall to keep masks required. CMS has followed that recommendation.

Washington said his recommendation will depend on whether cases decline at their current rate.

“Assuming the trends continue the way they are ... I’ll be able to stand there confidently and do that, and make that recommendation.”

This story was originally published February 8, 2022 at 4:05 PM.

Will Wright

The Charlotte Observer

Will Wright covers politics in Charlotte and North Carolina. He previously covered eastern Kentucky for the Lexington Herald-Leader, and worked as a reporting fellow at The New York Times.